Research Associate — Magnetic Materials & Diffraction Processing

Dunhillmedical; Sheffield; Hybrid; GBP 39,000 - 47,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Annual leave—competitive

Generous pension scheme

Flexible working opportunities

Development & wellbeing programmes

Discounts and rewards

Job summary

The University of Sheffield is seeking a Research Associate in Metallurgy and Materials Characterisation to join an ARIA-funded programme developing rare-earth-free permanent magnets. You will lead the Sheffield contribution, turning protein-templated magnetic nanomaterials into dense bulk composites and characterising their structure and performance.

You will be based in the School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering, working with Professors Iain Todd and Kathy Christofidou,

Qualifications

• Demonstrable research experience in materials characterisation using X-ray diffraction techniques, including phase identification and strain analysis.
• Practical knowledge of metallurgical processing and manufacturing routes, e.g. sintering, powder consolidation or additive manufacturing.
• Experience with electron microscopy (SEM and/or TEM) for microstructural characterisation of metals, ceramics or composite materials.
• Ability to plan, execute and interpret experimental work independently, with sound record-keeping and data management practice.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, evidenced by peer-reviewed publications, technical reports or presentations.
• Ability to work effectively within a multidisciplinary, multi-site consortium and to collaborate with partners from different scientific backgrounds.
• Good organisational and time-management skills, with the ability to work to project milestones and deadlines.
• Experience or demonstrable interest in the manufacturing and processing of magnetic materials, and/or scale-up of novel materials-processing routes.

Responsibilities

• Lead the preparation, processing and consolidation of protein-templated mineral and nanoparticle materials into bulk anisotropic magnetic composites using low-temperature fixation, spark plasma sintering and related routes.
• Design and conduct diffraction-based characterisation, principally powder X-ray diffraction and Rietveld refinement, to determine phase identity, crystal structure and microstructural order before and after processing.
• Carry out complementary microstructural characterisation using electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy.
• Support magnetic characterisation of processed samples using SQUID and vibrating sample magnetometry with the consortium.
• Evaluate candidate manufacturing routes for scale-up, reproducibility and downstream manufacturability.
• Maintain accurate experimental records and contribute data to shared project data and decision-log systems.
• Collaborate with project partners at Imperial College London and Change Bio, participating in design-build-test-learn cycles and quarterly meetings.
• Contribute to milestone reporting, Go/No-Go assessments and techno-economic evaluation of candidate materials routes.
• Present research findings at internal meetings, project reviews and external conferences; contribute to publications and IP.
• Contribute to the wider research culture and supervise student projects where appropriate.
• Carry out other duties commensurate with the grade and remit of the post.

Skills

X-ray diffraction

metallurgical processing

electronic microscopy

experimental planning

data management

communication & reporting

Tools

Powder X-ray diffraction

Rietveld refinement

SEM/TEM

Job description

The University of Sheffield is seeking a Research Associate in Metallurgy and Materials Characterisation to join an ARIA-funded programme developing rare-earth-free permanent magnets. You will lead the Sheffield contribution, turning protein-templated magnetic nanomaterials into dense bulk composites and characterising their structure and performance.

You will be based in the School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering, working with Professors Iain Todd and Kathy Christofidou,